Chalet Montenvers

Chalet Montenvers is a former Victorian hotel, built in 1890 to accommodate the British tourists who arrived by the newly completed Montenvers railway to view the Mer de Glace. The building sat unused for decades before being purchased and converted into a private rental in 2019. The conversion preserved the hotel's most distinctive features - a wraparound wooden veranda, carved bargeboards, tall sash windows, and a double-height entrance hall with the original oak reception desk - while transforming the guest rooms into six spacious suites. The Victorian era left its mark on Chamonix's architecture more than on any other Alpine resort, and this property is the finest surviving example available for private hire. Each bedroom suite retains original features: marble fireplaces, brass beds (supplemented with modern mattresses), patterned wallpaper reproduced from samples found behind later additions, and freestanding claw-foot tubs in the bathrooms. The wraparound veranda is the chalet's signature space: a covered outdoor room that circles the building on three sides, furnished with rattan chairs, wool blankets, and side tables for tea service. In winter, the veranda offers sheltered views of the snowfall; in summer, it functions as the primary living space with doors open to the garden. The ground floor includes a drawing room with a grand piano, a billiard room, and a dining room with a table seating 14 beneath an original chandelier. The chef serves meals that nod to the Victorian era - roast game, seasonal tarts, classic French sauces - alongside contemporary alpine dishes. Les Tines, the hamlet where the property sits, is between Chamonix town and Argentiere, a 5-minute drive to either. The Montenvers railway station is a 10-minute walk.